Laws of Vahtang

The code of the feudal right of Georgia, made in 1705-08 under the direction of Vahtang VI, king of Kartli, with participation of representatives of the supreme ecclesiastical and secular elite. Consist of extraction from the Bible, the Byzantian, Armenian and Georgian laws and actually Standings (Ulozhenia) of Vahtang VI. Codification of laws was caused by the increased requirements of judiciary practice in connection with an aggravation of class contradictions, and also a task of strengthening of imperial authority in struggle against large feudal lords. Laws of Vahtang legalised the serfdom. Standings of Vahtang VI acted in the whole Georgia, and some laws acted after connection of Georgia to Russia. During 18 century Laws of Vahtang were distributed in hand-written lists. The first edition of Standings of Vahtang VI in Georgian language issued in 1846 in St. Petersburg, last critical edition - in Tbilisi in 1963, the first full edition in Russian translation issued in St. Petersburg in 1828 ("The Collection of laws of Georgian king Vahtang VI "), the second - in Tiflis in 1887 under D.Z.Bakradze's edition.